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Privacy & Security

Researchers are developing platforms to securely and quickly send data to and from smartphones. A new mobile application developed to assist providers in meeting patient privacy regulation allows for the sharing and storing of patient-related photos, videos and audio.

The lack of cybersecurity in mobile applications meant to assist dementia patients and their caregivers could put patients' personal health information at risk, according to researchers at McLean Hospitals in Belmont, Massachusetts, and clinicians at Harvard Medical School. A study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatryexamined app security policies and provided recommendations.

Cyberattacks occur on many types of devices—including 3D printers. A new study, conducted by researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Georgia Institute of Technology, examines methods in protecting 3D printers for improved cybersecurity.

Facing an increasing amount of cyberattacks, healthcare organizations are building up their cybersecurity programs, according to the 2017 HIMSS Cybersecurity Survey. After speaking with 126 health information technology leaders, researchers outlined current security measures to show points of improvement and explore how the industry can prevent future attacks.

The healthcare industry has fought an uphill battle against hackers in 2017—and it shows in the latest Beazley Breach Insights report. The report, conducted by the cyber and data breach response insurance firm, found the rate of ransomware attacks had increased by 50 percent in the first quarter of 2017, with demands up 133 percent.

Recent Headlines

With an array of options to communicate, physicians are able to pick and choose their favorite. A new study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that of all the communicative technologies, physicians prefer to use pagers to receive patient care-related (PCR) communications.

The recent Netwrix 2017 IT Risks Report examined information technologies professionals across 30 industries to find 75 percent of healthcare systems reported budget and a lack of time as main barriers to improving data security. The report was conducted by Netwrix Corporation to outline the thoughts to IT professionals regarding the data protection.

A large majority (83 percent) of executives in life sciences and pharmaceutical companies believes there will be widespread adoption of healthcare blockchain tools within the next five years, according to a survey released by the Pistoia Alliance.

Health insurance giant Anthem has reached a settlement of $115 million after a class action lawsuit related to a 2015 data breach. The agreement—which addresses the breach of patient information including names, date of birth and social security numbers—is set to be the largest data breach settlement if approved by the court.

Health applications meant to assist those in need could possibly be harming users with less than satisfactory privacy. A study published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry presented researchers’ evaluations of safety standards in health apps meant to help patients with cognitive impairments.

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) has notified 5,220 individuals of a potential breach of protected health information. The exposure occurred when emails containing patient information were sent unencrypted.

HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has announced the winners of their Move Health Data Forward Challenge, which focused on the development of applications for secure sharing of patient health information and awarded winners $50,000.

Medical device technology has brought an improved sense of care to healthcare organizations, yet also bring along the risk of a data breach when not maintained. A new survey by Ponemon Institute, an information technology research organizations, found medical devices to be especially susceptible to attack.